5 Best Online Real Estate Schools in Alabama 2023

The CE Shop’s Agent Essentials page (Source: The CE Shop)

• Accreditations: Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) and Alabama Real Estate Commission (AREC)
• Refund/cancellation policy: If you’re unhappy with a course, you have 30 days from the date of purchase to request a full refund as long as you’ve completed less than 50% of the course.
• Course access and extension: The CE Shop offers access to prelicensing and CE courses for six or 12 months after the date of purchase. Students who don’t finish the course within the access period can repurchase it within 30 days after the expiration for 50% of the retail cost.
• Agent essentials: Free materials for building a profession that can help you thrive in real estate. A few of these free resources are blogs, e-books, webinars, videos, and podcasts.

The CE Shop obtained a 4.05 out of 5 customer review rating for its clean, user-friendly, and direct teaching methodology. Many students applauded the ease and convenience of completing courses with The CE Shop, and many were repeat customers.

However, some individuals were not super-enthusiastic about the layout of the course or the materials and said its system was glitchy. Several students also wanted more narration within the class materials, so if that is something you’re looking for as well, try Kaplan’s on-demand options or the livestream format offered by Colibri Real Estate.

Similar to Kaplan and Colibri Real Estate, as a national provider, The CE Shop offers tiered packages tailored to your educational needs.

• Accreditations: ARELLO, International Distance Education Certification Center (IDECC), and AREC
• Pass or don’t pay guarantee: Students may submit their test results to Colibri Real Estate for a refund of the purchased package if they fail the state exam.
• Course extension: Colibri Real Estate enables you to extend the course, giving you access for an additional seven, 30, or 60 days, all for an additional cost.
• Exam prep resources: There are numerous practice examinations and flashcards included in the exam preparation. The Exam Prep Master course offers study materials, additional practice tests, and exam prep courses for students needing extra assistance with exam preparation.

Most students found that Kaplan’s self-paced courses fit perfectly into their lifestyle and highly recommend the live virtual components. One student also commented that the extra practice tests prepared her well for the state and national exams. As a result, Colibri Real Estate garnered a 4.15 out of 5 customer review rating.

Nevertheless, a student was unhappy and strongly suggested updating Colibri’s curriculum on the ethics portion for the state exam. Plus, Colibri Real Estate doesn’t offer interactive study groups and 1:1 coaching and training, so if you’re looking for more support and assistance, try Kaplan.

Although the pricing may appear complicated, Colibri Real Estate differs from the other schools in giving you not only a choice of packages but also a choice of individualized courses from which to choose.

MY Real Estate School offered courses (Source: MY Real Estate School courses)

• Accreditation: AREC
• Refund/cancellation policy: MY Real Estate School only issues refunds within seven days of purchase and only if the course is not over 50% completed.
• Course extension policy: If you cannot complete your course within the six-month access period, extensions can be purchased through your online course portal. But the additional course access cannot exceed 18 months from the date of purchase, and time limits may also depend on state mandates.
• Veterans discount: All veterans receive a 10% off. You have to call 205-822-9322 for the discount voucher.

MY Real Estate School received a high customer review rating of 4.8 out of 5 for its highly experienced and knowledgeable instructors, real-life examples, and informative and engaging classes. A student praised MY Real Estate School for its excellent content that’s easy to comprehend and understand, helping her feel prepared for the exam.

Although there is endless praise online for the MY Real Estate School instructional team, some students needed help with the material and more instructor assistance. If you need more guidance and assistance with your education, look at Kaplan.

MY Real Estate School offers only one option for each licensing course. It’s worth noting that its prelicensing, post-licensing, and broker prelicensing courses are also offered in person.

*The CE courses are offered through its partner, The CE Shop.

Kaplan’s additional study tools (Source: Kaplan)

• Accreditations: ARELLO, IDECC, and AREC
• PassProtection retake policy: Within six months of the date of purchase, students may retake the same programs if they fail to pass their license exam. Kaplan’s PassProtection Retakes are unlimited, although new course materials might be required.
• Virtual exam proctoring: The final exam will be proctored in Kaplan’s virtual classroom on the student’s LMS platform, allowing students to not worry about commuting and focus instead on passing their final exams.
• Exam prep tools and add-ons: Kaplan offers customizable drills, practice banks, a performance tracker, and additional study tools—math on-demand refresher course, real estate flashcards, exam prep apps, and study packages to help you ace the exam.

Kaplan Real Estate school students are happy with its highly qualified instructors, praising their professionalism, friendliness, and responsiveness. The interactive study group, in-depth explanations, and weekly resources provided by Kaplan are praised by students for helping them pass the real estate exam on their first attempt. With this, Kaplan received a 4.5 out of 5 customer review rating.

However, some students were disappointed, saying it has outdated content, and several students complained about system issues they faced while completing their course. We suggest The CE Shop if you’re seeking reasonably priced real estate education with intuitive navigation and straightforward dashboards.

Kaplan provides tiered packaging, but on a simpler level than providers like Colibri Real Estate, making it easy to pick your courses and get the help you need.

AREI’s technical support guideline (Source: Alabama Real Estate Institute)

• Accreditations: ARELLO and AREC
• Refund/cancellation policy: Following the date of purchase, you have seven business days to cancel your registration. Registration cancellation requests must be made by contacting the school by phone or email. The cancellation fee is 15% of the total purchase price.
• Reciprocal license: AREI offers a reciprocal license course if you want to practice real estate in Alabama as a salesperson or broker yet are already licensed in another state.
• Technical support: AREI’s hours of operations are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, while its email support is available during regular business hours.

Although the Alabama Real Estate Institute has very few online reviews, it has a perfect 5 out of 5 customer rating that indicates a great learning experience. Students commented that they loved the school’s informative course, knowledgeable instructors, and easy-to-navigate and understand course materials that helped her prepare for the state real estate test.

Yet, students wished for more real-time and live interaction with their instructors and classmates. As Alabama Real Estate Institute courses are completely self-paced, we would recommend Colibri Real Estate or Kaplan if you’d prefer more live interactive features.

The packages provided by Alabama Real Estate Institute are simple compared to other national providers because it only offers limited add-ons and standard course materials.

*All self-paced courses are offered through its partner company, The CE Shop.